Berbo Studio

New plant dyed goods, created for your enjoyment, available in the place where things I make can be found (🔗 in bio)

38 trips around the sun on this beautiful planet. Every year I feel more like myself; more comfortable in my skin (what a gift). In this photo I’m in a hot spring in the Eastern Sierra with the season’s first snow falling on me, near the end of a solo camping journey up and down the spine of California. (I listened to this song over and over on that trip.) I didn’t know it at the time, but as the snow mingled with the steaming water, the wheels of change had just started turning. They’ve come nearly full circle now, and if my luck continues, this year I’ll get to open a chapter I’ve been waiting my whole life to begin. Putting down roots. Tending land. The feeling of home (finally). More soon. Grateful to be here. ❤️

I live my life on salve time now. Full moon: collect the plants, immerse in oil. Between moons: wait. (And visit bee people at farmer’s market for beeswax). Next full moon: day of straining, combining, pouring, rejoicing. Every batch is different because the plants are and I am. Every batch is very special to me and I am delighted to share it with you. Full moon later this week. Cycle starts again. The results from this one are currently in the shop. With love 🌝

Sagebrush Lovers Club unite! We left beautiful today smelling like sagebrush and campfire, after a day together exploring this ecosystem-defining plant’s dye and medicine.

We explored the science behind sagebrush’s scent and natural color(s), gently harvested from plants on the property—observing many galls made by the sponge gall midge—and created dye (with spring and river water) and herbal salve (with local beeswax) as steam from our pots carrying sagebrush’s aroma mingled with the rain clouds rolling in.

What a truly beautiful day with a wonderfully creative, curious group. I know we all left feeling even more enamored with this special plant, its medicine, color, ecology, and environment.

From sagebrush country, with love 💛

It is with enormous joy and excitement that I announce my upcoming book—The Naturalist Dyer—with !

For years I’ve been dreaming of turning the concepts I share in workshops, on plant walks, and in my shorter pieces of writing—about tending our local ecologies while simultaneously creating with them—into a book.

It’s an honor to bring this dream to life with Heyday, the publisher of some of my most treasured and referenced books, from which I’ve gained knowledge and inspiration—and now encouragement—for my own work, which I gratefully share with you.

More soon! With love and so many thanks,
Erin

Introducing the new Berbo Studio website:

Berbo Studio Naturally dyed goods and workshops in Southern California by artist and naturalist Erin Berkowitz